05 January 2014

Jane Goodall, PhD, ethologist and author, stated in her Mar. 17, 2012 op-ed
for The Times (UK) titled "So Much Animal Pain, So Little Human Gain":

In
the name of science or medicine, animals are subjected to countless
invasive, frightening and sometimes very painful procedures. We all want
to see cures for terrible diseases such as Parkinson's (which afflicted
my mother), cancer (to which I lost my husband), multiple sclerosis and
so on, but regardless of how much or how little these experiments
benefit human health, should we exploit animals in this way?

Animal
experimenters often justify such research by claiming the existence in
humans of some morally relevant characteristics, such as intelligence,
language, or consciousness, that are supposedly absent in other species.
But we are fast discovering a great deal about high levels of
intelligence in many animal species, and too about animal consciousness,
emotions and sensitivity to pain...

We need a new mindset for
the 21st century. Most experimenters, while acknowledging that animals
are sentient and sometimes sapient beings, say that some will always
have to be used but they will use as few and treat them as well as
possible. Instead, let us admit that the practice is morally and
ethically unacceptable. We need to move on.

The amazing human
brain has already discovered astonishingly innovative ways of improving
medical research by replacing animals. Let science direct its
collectively awesome intellect toward finding alternatives to the use of
live animals in all procedures—as soon as possible. This should be
supported by the scientific establishment and vastly increased funding
should be found for it. It should be a goal for all civilised
societies.